About 70,000 without power following Thanksgiving storm

Nov. 29—A Thanksgiving storm knocked out power to more than 70,000 homes and businesses across Maine.

The storm, which rolled into the state Thursday morning, brought rain throughout the day to much of southern Maine before switching to snow later in the afternoon everywhere except the immediate coastline.

More than 52,000 CMP customers were without power at 7:30 a.m. Friday, but that number dropped to under 50,000 by 9 a.m. Hardest hit is Somerset County, where more than 13,000 customers are without power. CMP reported 9,400 outages in Kennebec County, 6,700 in Androscoggin, 4,600 in Franklin, 6,700 in Oxford County and 6,300 in Penobscot County.

Source: Central Maine Power

Versant Power, which serves northern and eastern Maine, reported more than 18,000 outages Friday morning, primarily in the greater Bangor region. The utility company said crews are focused on assessing damage and making sure downed lines are safe.

On Thursday, power outages ticked up steadily throughout the afternoon as snow piled up in inland areas. There were fewer than 100 households across the state without power at 2:30 p.m., but nearly 17,000 at 7 p.m., according to CMP’s and Versant’s websites. Oxford and Somerset counties saw the bulk of those outages, while the coastal counties remained mostly untouched.

Forecasters had warned that the combination of Thursday evening’s wet, heavy snow and the gusty winds expected to pick up later in the night could be a recipe for downed power lines.

In an update posted on social media Friday morning, CMP said crews were finding fallen trees that need to be removed before power can be restored.

“After working through the night, we’ve restored more than 33,000 customers and more than 100 crews will continue working today,” the update read. “Please give our crews plenty of room to work roadside. Driving conditions may continue to be dangerous, especially during morning hours.”

The highest snow totals reported to the National Weather Service were in Oxford County, where Fryeburg saw 8.8 inches by 8:15 p.m. Thursday. In Androscoggin County, 6 inches fell in Turner by 8 p.m. Just a trace of snow was reported at the Portland International Jetport.

As the storm died down over night, the wind gusts ramped up. The weather service warned that wind gusts would approach 40 mph along the coast, which could lead to an elevated power outage risk.

This story will be updated.

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